WWE Elite 87 Warlord figure review

Over the years teams might have gotten a quick advantage on the Road Warriors, but few were as effective as the Powers of Pain. Warlord and The Barbarian battered Hawk and Animal before eventually taking their talents to the WWF and feuding with their version of the LOD in Demolition.

The Powers of Pain found Demolition just as frustrating as the Road Warriors, but had a lengthy war that saw both teams switch seats in the heel and face locker room.

After getting the solo Warlord, Mattel gives us his POP version. While we’re still waiting on The Barbarian, at least we’ve got half of another highly demanded 80s tag team. Let’s see if he’s ready to go to war.

Packaging:  Warlord is a Walmart exclusive, which means he gets the standard white and red packaging without the series number or the sell through of the other figures in his wave. I’ve always found that weird since the other figures aren’t exclusive to one retailer.

I dig the pictures Mattel used for Warlord as they truly capture his intimidating nature. The rear is somewhat plain though. The bio is brief, but sums up Warlord’s status in the WWE.

Likeness: Warlord was a beefy guy and Mattel appropriately gave him the Brock Lesnar torso. That’s very fitting choice for him that truly captures his stockiness. He needs just a smidge of added height around his neck to actually show it. Warlord had huge shoulders, but his neck didn’t vanish as a result.

Thankfully, Mattel didn’t go with the scrawny legs for him so he definitely looks solid. The gritted teeth expression feels about right for him even if it’s not the most natural default for most figures.

Scale: Warlord clocked in at 6’5″ putting him taller than the 6’3″ Ax and 6’2″ Smash as well as the 6’1″ Animal and 6’3″ Hawk. His scale is actually pretty accurate.

Most of the time if Mattel is off on the scale with wrestlers, it’s not that dramatic. In the case of Demolition, Smash should be shorter than Ax for example. Warlord is properly scaled taller than either member of Demolition or the Road Warriors.

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Paint: The Powers of Pain kept their attire simple going with a basic black with some red accents. In moving to the WWF, Warlord opted for a more unified look with The Barbarian and added face paint.

You’ll notice the lettering of the right side of the tights. I did a longer than I probably needed to spend check on the tights and Powers of Pain was cut off though typically the O was the first visible letter. No big deal and it’s accurate and not a goof by Mattel, which is important to point out.

The face paint applications on my figure are weird as the area around the eyes are appropriately black, but the sides are a darker brown and the left side isn’t filled in properly.

Mattel did properly capture his two-tone hair with brown on the left mohawk strip. There’s some random black dots on his nose that hopefully can be removed.

Overall the updated paint techniques enhance the face paint work so much, but occasionally there’s random marks on the sculpts. Hopefully that’s something Mattel can clean up.

Articulation: Warlord was a big bruiser. He overwhelmed his opponents with his power.

The double-jointed elbows help him further with bear hugs and power slams. Butterfly shoulders would definitely help with his full nelson submission moves, as he can’t quite do a proper full nelson in part thanks to his bulky arms.

His neck is a little odd as the head keeps popping down without staying locked in place. I also wish in this instant Mattel would go with some cloth material so the arm band straps wouldn’t just randomly be suspended in air.

Warlord has:

• neck
• bicep
• ball-jointed shoulders
• elbows
• wrists
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hips
• thighs
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

Accessories:  Warlord comes with his ring vest. This is a bit more elaborate than some of the other entrance gear. It’s got chains on one side and intricate straps on the other.

I wish Mattel were able to cut the holes in the plastic chain links so it didn’t look like a blob of plastic at certain points. Mattel actually sculpted the studs on the vest instead of just relying on the paint work, which is definitely appreciated. Additionally, he’s got a set of gripping hands.

This isn’t a knock on Mattel, but I do wish they’d also included the original Warlord head just for that alternate NWA Powers of Pain version.

Worth it?  The Walmart price of $16 for Elites is killer. It’s the best value of any figure line at this point and that always raises the value of these guys. Warlord is worth the $20 price so it’s even better to get him for $5 cheaper.

Rating: 9.3 out of 10

Assuming the facepaint isn’t a widespread issue, the neck and connection does need a little work and the arm string really needs to be cloth. Otherwise, this is a great representation of POP Warlord. Now let’s hurry up and get The Barbarian signed, Mattel.

Where to get it?  Mattel has done a better job of making sure its store exclusive figures. There was zero trouble finding a Col. Mustafa at Target.

Warlord was slightly trickier, but I found him in a reasonable amount of trips to Walmarts that actually refresh their WWE supply. There’s a listing on Walmart’s website for Warlord without a picture, but I assume this is the Elite 87 figure.